Schools to remain closed until October half term?

[stopcollaborateandlisten]

Lots and lots coming out in the news how schools will finally be re-opening - anyone else think it might get pushed back at the last minute to after the October half term?

Or my cousin who is a nurse on a non-Covid, non-ITU regular clinic.

They cancelled all clinics for the duration, caught up on paperwork, supported elsewhere if needed, took annual holiday (because requested to) and were very, very grateful for all the free food sent in by local businesses to A&E which just overflowed and they couldn't get through.

A bubble of 15? 4 days per week? Wouldn't it normally be more kids 5 days a week? Maybe not. We're any kids left out?

I will assume that you are utterly ignorant, rather than being wilfully obtuse.

Were you unaware that when the government authorised some year groups to return to school, this HAD to be in class 'bubbles' of no more than 15 (along with a whole raft of other safety arrangements)?

Each 'bubble' had its own teacher, and no staff were shared, again in line with covid guidelines in force at the time.

Every teacher is entitled to half a day of planning / preparation / assessment [non contact] time each week, and that could not be covered by another member of staff. Even if one could have been shared, every single member of my school's staff, except those shielding, were in the classroom during partial return, and every classroom was used to the maximum allowed.

The decision was therefore taken - since i was still also teaching my own class of 32 remotely - that the school would shut to the returned pupils for 1 day a week, to allow for full cleaning, PPA time and time for every teacher in with a 'not usual' year group to work with their own class.

Tbh I don't blame teachers but government and school leadership. Wales approach of all kids back but only a third in school at a time seemed more sensible allowing smaller bubbles. Trying to get all kids back all the time seems like madness.
Kids need the physical experience of school for support and mental health...but full time feels difficult.

I have seen businesses pivot quickly schools and department of education haven't!

we are in unprecedented times we need new thinking!

Ok. But planning etc part of your job anyway.

It normally takes me about 5 hours a week as I can just alter slightly previous years as I've been teaching for decades. In spring it was about 20 hours a week. Marking took much longer as well as it's more difficult electronically.

You've admitted some of your patient appointments were done remotely yes? So the same as kids being taught remotely?

Hours worked were about the same, but only because I had lots of exam classes who were out of the system. On a full timetable I would be working about 15-20 hours more than normal.

And 'most kids learning' is what happens in school everyday. No teacher, no matter how good they are, gets every child learning.

Gosh people are nasty. Is it really necessary to be so awful about the NHS?

I have seen businesses pivot quickly schools and department of education haven't!

We closed on Friday at 3.15 pm, and had a fully working curriculum for each year group, offered online via several learning platforms, operational by the Monday morning.

I am not sure that can be counted as 'slow'?

Gosh people are nasty. Is it really necessary to be so awful about the NHS?

I am entirely happy for the NHS (and its staff) and schools (and their staff) to be treated and talked about in exactly the same way as each other on here. Is that a deal?

@Pomegranatepompom

Gosh people are nasty. Is it really necessary to be so awful about the NHS?

Oh the irony

Same here, Cantkeep. Mostly because we all worked until around 1am that last week of term writing and planning suitable home learning lessons.

Pomegranate - I think I, like many others, have finally cracked with the sheet vitriol and lies aimed at teachers and schools. Teachers have refrained from comparing for months but to be consistently and belligerently told we have failed kids and have done no work when we have been on our knees by the end of term, is it surprising that some have snapped and shared stories of some NHS staff who have themselves admitted that THEY have worked LESS hard than normal?

@Danglingmod cancer services where not stopped in the trust where I work, it was incredibly busy. We did't have any treatment delays. Only routine surgery was stopped, all the staff were deployed to covid wards and staff volunteered to work in other trusts.,mainly ITU. Is it really necessary to be critical of NHS staff? Such a shame to see such nastiness. Being critical/negative of other professions won't change peoples views, it just looks petty, mean and unnecessary.

Mostly because we all worked until around 1am that last week of term writing and planning suitable home learning lessons.

Well, yes. Because we cared about the kids, and their learning, and chose to ignore the Government guidance that the curriculum was suspended. If I had known then how much we would be reviled, I might not have bothered.

Pomgranate,

Read Ask's posts, and then consider how you might feel as a teacher who had worked themselves into the ground since March trying to teach children as best we can, and who is now being asked to go into an unsafe workplace in a few weeks' time.

I am responding to her, as an NHS staff member, specifically, and not to general NHS staff, and I apologise that by doing so I have caused offence to others.

@cantkeepawayforever

Mostly because we all worked until around 1am that last week of term writing and planning suitable home learning lessons.

Well, yes. Because we cared about the kids, and their learning, and chose to ignore the Government guidance that the curriculum was suspended. If I had known then how much we would be reviled, I might not have bothered.

This ^ with knobs on. Why is wanting schools to open safely seen as not caring for our kids and our community?

And, did you notice, Pomegranate, that in that comment/anecdote I wasn't bitching or complaining at all? It was a statement of fact. It was a retort to the poster telling me that the NHS carried on exactly as normal so why couldn't schools (or why couldn't she believe us when we said we did make excellent provision for our students).

A simple statement of fact that my husband won't get his annual check-up, due now, for months and that - the exact opposite -WE DON'T MIND or haven't complained because we expected it because these are not normal times. Even though his cancer is likely to return in the meantime and it may shorten his life. I was being the very opposite of petty and mean.

@Danglingmod my post was not entirely directed at you, some pp were pretty awful, in their comments.

Sorry to hear about our DH, that's simply not good enough. I hope he has a review soon.

Pomegranate,

Were there any specific comments in my posts that you felt, once you have read them as they were intended - as responses to a goading poster who claims to work for the NHS - were unreasonably critical of the NHS in general?

If so, let me know - by pm would be fine, or here - and I'm happy to ask MN to delete them.

Or you could report them to MN yourself, point them to my post here saying that I am happy for you to do so, and ask them to be deleted.

@cantkeepawayforever not specifically you.
Sorry, I can quite imagine how teachers feel who have worked tirelessly. It's just disappointed that NHS/teachers now pitting against each other.
My colleagues in quieter services volunteered to go to ITU and it was horrendous, I admire them so much for doing so, I don't think anyone can know how awful it was tbh . So I do think generalisations are unfair - just the same as teachers do.
It's fair to say some areas were quieter in all professions.

Thank you, Pomegranate.

Thanks, Pomegranate.

I don't think, in general, that the NHS and teachers are pitted against each other (we can take it that you are the ministering angels and we are the baddies of the piece, honestly.....)

I am just sorry that someone claiming to work for the NHS managed to create a small NHS / schools spat, and that you were hurt by it. So many people in this pandemic have had to work way out of their comfort zones, and are so much to be admired.

Honestly we resolved very amicably without anyone swearing - so refreshing..

I want to help @Danglingmod I'm sure you phoned the consultants PA to arrange a review? Are scans due?

askmehowiknow

Ok. Teachers on heee have described it as like a retirement.

Actually the single post that you are referring to was a mu mate is a teacher post, and wasn't by a teacher at all.

But feel free to stir and bring back up all the bad blood.

@FrippEnos

askmehowiknow

Ok. Teachers on heee have described it as like a retirement.

Actually the single post that you are referring to was a mu mate is a teacher post, and wasn't by a teacher at all.

But feel free to stir and bring back up all the bad blood.

I think it was a ‘I heard a teacher on the radio say...’.

There is some real teacher hatred on here by a few posters.

It was the secretary who phoned to warn him that his upcoming appointment would be delayed by minimum four and possibly more months but that they might have time to review some bloods if the GP surgery would arrange them.

Honestly, it's no-one's fault (except the government and funding) but we are semi expecting the department to close at some point and move to a hospital an hour away as they have such shortages of consultants. (This would leave a county of a million ppl with no team in this specialism.)

I’m sure that poster has plenty of knowledge about how the NHS and their own department work, but possibly not much knowledge about how schools work. (Which is fine, no reason why they should!)

I’ve seen plenty of best practice and innovation shared between teachers, have attended multiple training courses on how to teach during and post pandemic, and have trained other teachers in my particular specialty so they’ve been able to best help our students remotely and when the new term starts. I wouldn’t expect askmehowIknow to be aware of that though, what with not being a teacher and not regularly attending staff meetings and training.

Turning up on a Mumsnet thread and asking teachers to prove it is... slightly odd.

Tl:dr - just because you don’t know things are happening, doesn’t mean that they’re not happening